Hoping to help: Richard J. Hernandez, concerned about a lack of interest in new technologies, has launched a Web site offering basic tutorials. Photo: Steve Leonard

May 27, 2002
By Brian Leaf

Business ownership is surging among Hispanics, and Richard J. Hernandez is among those hoping it translates into more Latinos embracing information technology and e-commerce.

But he has good reason to be concerned.

U.S. Small Business Administration figures show the number of Hispanic businesses grew 184% between 1987 and 1997, but that increase has not led the nation's 1.2 million Latino-owned enterprises to race to the Web.

Mr. Hernandez and others say the chasm between Hispanics and technology — the so-called digital divide — stems from a lack of formal technical education and a failure to recognize that businesses without a Web site are missing opportunities to grow.

He's working to change that situation.

Mr. Hernandez founded E-MBE.net in Carol Stream to provide e-business education to women- and minority-owned businesses. His site, www.e-mbe.net , has online tutorials to teach Internet skills and strategy to underrepresented segments of the business world.

"They think they can't do e-commerce because all they sell are services," says Mr. Hernandez, who estimates 60% of minority- and women-owned businesses are service-based.

Sponsors such as ChevronTexaco Corp., DaimlerChrysler AG, DuPont, Exxon Mobil Corp., PepsiCo Inc. and Xerox Corp. support his efforts. Each spends $2,500 a year to place a logo on his site, along with a brief summary of their supplier diversity programs.

The site receives about 10,000 visits a month. He estimates readership of his e-commerce newsletter at 50,000.

While Mr. Hernandez is convinced Hispanics can compete by examining their business models and finding a niche for their services on the Web, there's a shortage of real-world examples.

"There is no call to arms in the Latino business community," he says. "A lot of them are confused. They don't know what to do. There is a lack of mentors out there. There is no Hispanic Bill Gates, who is a role model."

Mr. Gates may not be Hispanic, but his Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft Corp. is working to develop the Latino market. The company and its partners, CompUSA and Compaq Computer Corp., offer free seminars around the country for Latino business owners.

Deleting tech fear

The sessions, held regularly in the Chicago area, immerse Hispanic entrepreneurs in gigabytes of Microsoft software demos and giveaways. They hear testimonials from Hispanic business owners, whose fortunes have grown through e-commerce.

(The next seminar in Chicago is scheduled for July 9 at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place. Information is available at www.msbigday.com .)

"Not only to do we bring them the technology," says Frank Camara, Microsoft program manager and chairman of the company's Hispanic employee community. "We bring case studies, where these owners have gone out, employed the technologies and have seen an increase in business."

Part of the strategy is to take the anxiety out of technology.

"What we've discovered is, there is this level of fear when it comes to technology," says Mr. Camara, who adds it's especially evident among mom-and-pop businesses.

"They feel like they have to have control over every aspect of their business. But because they're not tech-savvy, they actually may be distancing themselves from their businesses."

BY THE NUMBERS 25.06 The median age of a Hispanic male living in Cook County in 2001

Most Hispanic businesses are small, and the smallest are most distanced from technology. Just 6% of Hispanic businesses with fewer than 10 employees have any Web presence, according to figures complied by Microsoft.

A report released in March by the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute in Claremont, Calif., says technology is vital for the future well-being of Latinos, but they're falling behind other groups in embracing it. The report says future social stability for individuals and families is inextricably linked to education and technological innovation.

While the Hispanic population in the U.S. doubled between 1990 and 2000 to 35 million, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, Latinos haven't pursued high-tech careers.

The five fastest-growing careers in the U.S. are computer-related, but few Latinos are seeking computer science degrees to compete for these higher-than-average-paying jobs. Hispanics account for only 3.6% of computer systems analysts and scientists and only 4.9% of computer programmers, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

BY THE NUMBERS 25.01 The median age of a Hispanic female living in Cook County in 2001

Then there are anomalies such as Chicago-based software and tech consulting company Electronic Knowledge Interchange Inc. (EKI), which won a multimillion-dollar contract to build a portal and online bill payment system for the city of Chicago.

Building bridges

Of the company's 70 employees, about one-third are Latino and half are minorities. It's safe to say that co-founders Diego Ferrer and Robert D. Blackwell Jr. have bridged the digital divide.

Now, EKI is tackling the corporate chasm in an effort to make the firm and other minority-owned businesses more than second-tier players.

Mr. Ferrer's not content with the set-aside slivers big contractors award minority firms. EKI has its sights set on working with Fortune 500 companies.

While EKI is thriving, Mr. Ferrer knows there are problems within the Latino workforce that prevent many from rising within the ranks of the IT industry.

"Education is the base of it," says Mr. Ferrer, a Venezuelan who came to Chicago to study English and ended up studying electronics at DeVry Institute of Technology. "Latinos are underrepresented in the IT workforce, and at the same time, Latino children have the largest dropout rate among any ethnic group."

When he looks at who's running the country's high-tech companies, he knows he's in rare air.

©2002 by Crain Communications Inc.